RECENT NEWS ARTICLES

This page contains a selection of recent news articles and commentary about male victims of violence and abuse plus related issues. These articles are presented as a community service, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the One in Three Campaign.

Please send any relevant news articles to us by clicking here and we will post them on this page.

Firstly Gilmore claimed that “women's reports of partner violence increased from 1.9 to 3.2 [between 2005 and 2016]”. Actually, the 2016 ABS PSS found that women’s reports of partner violence increased from 1.5% to 1.7% (Table 2.1) - a 13% increase that the ABS says is not statistically significant.

Secondly, the author claims that “women are four times more likely to experience partner violence than men”. The 2016 PSS found that 211,700 women and 113,900 men (Table 1.1) experienced violence by an intimate partner in the last 12 months. That’s not even twice as many - nowhere near four times.

Our Watch (who should have immediately picked up these obvious errors) re-published Gilmore’s article on their Facebook page with the note “Journalist Jane Gilmore discusses the data surrounding male victims of domestic violence and the importance of reporting the facts.”

Here are the facts. Over the past decade, partner violence against women has remained relatively stable. By contrast, partner violence against men has doubled (and current partner violence has increased five-fold).

The One in Three Campaign has written an in-depth analysis of the claims made in Gilmore's article. It is available here.

Women being sexually harassed in record numbers. Sexual violence against women on the rise. These were the headlines late last year when the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed the latest Personal Safety Survey. The media stories were all about women as victims of dangerous men.

Yet they left out the real news – a dramatic increase in men being attacked and abused by their partners. Since 2005 the proportion of men reporting violence in the last year from their current partners has risen more than five-fold while the proportion experiencing emotional abuse has more than doubled.

“We don’t know whether more men are being abused by their partners or whether men are finally willing to admit to being victims of violence instead of being shamed into silence,” says Greg Millan from Men’s Health Services who runs Australia’s only training course for working with male victims of family violence.

In either case, the true extent of women’s violence against their partners is now emerging. The biggest leap in sexual harassment involves men being harassed by women. The survey shows growing numbers reporting their partners are depriving them of basic needs such as food and shelter and contact with their children.

Every third victim of intimate partner violence is a male. Almost half the people being emotionally abused by their partners are male. These latest statistics show domestic violence is not just about violent men – increasingly males are victims of abuse from their partners. So how come our media chooses not to report the whole story?

Here is the other side of that story, the facts the media won’t tell you about the 2016 Personal Safety Survey results (more details in attached infographic, also at 1in3.com.au/infographic):

The proportion of men experiencing current partner violence in the last 12 months between the 2005 and 2016 ABS Personal Safety Surveys rose more than five-fold (a 552% increase), while the proportion of men experiencing emotional abuse from a current partner in the last 12 months more than doubled (a 223% increase).

During the last 12 months, more than one in three people who experienced violence from an intimate partner were male (35%) and almost half the people who experienced emotional abuse by a partner were male (46%).

14% of men who experienced emotional abuse by a current partner were deprived of basic needs such as food, shelter or sleep, compared to 6% of women.

9% of men reporting emotional abuse by a current partner experienced threats to take their child/ren away from them, compared to 5% of women.

39% of men who reported emotional abuse by a previous partner had that partner lie to their child/ren with the intent of turning them against them, compared to 25% of women.

More than 1 in 3 persons who experienced sexual harassment were male (34%) – usually involving a female perpetrator (72%).

The biggest increase in sexual harassment between 2012 and 2016 was males harassed by a female, which rose by a massive 68% (females harassed by a male rose by 15%).

Almost 1 in 3 persons who experienced sexual assault were male (28%), with females the most likely perpetrators of sexual violence against men (83%).

Male victims of domestic violence were far more likely than women to have never sought advice or support, less likely to have contacted police, and far less likely to have had a restraining order issued against the perpetrator.

The latest homicide figures from the Australian Institute of Criminology paint a similar picture, with 75 males killed in domestic homicide incidents between 2012-2014, an average of one every ten days.

“With these official statistics revealing this complex picture of both men and women as victims and perpetrators of domestic and sexual violence, surely it is time for governments to stop pretending the cause of domestic violence is the lack of respect for women,” said Millan.

The One in Three Campaign is calling on the Federal Government to include male victims of violence in the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, and to heed the findings of the recent state and federal inquiries and royal commissions recommending more services and support for male victims of family violence.

MEDIA CONTACTS

Greg Andresen, Senior Researcher, One in Three Campaign, 0403 813 925 or info@oneinthree.com.au. See Greg Andresen discussing this news with Bettina Arndt on her latest YouTube video.

Bettina Arndt talks to Greg Andresen from the One in Three Campaign about the latest Australian domestic violence statistics showing the increasing numbers of male victims.

The One in Three campaign aims to raise public awareness of the existence and needs of male victims of family violence and abuse, and to reduce the incidence and impacts of family violence on Australian men, women and children. One in Three is a diverse group of male and female professionals – academics, researchers, social workers, psychologists, counsellors, lawyers, health promotion workers, trainers and survivor/advocates – who work as volunteers for the organisation which receives no government or corporate funding.

The team at the One in Three Campaign have been hard at work preparing an analysis of the latest data on male victims of family violence ever since the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released their 2016 Personal Safety Survey data in November 2017.

The results have just been published in the form of a new infographic available at oneinthree.com.au/infographic. The infographic also includes the latest 2012-14 data from the Australian Institute of Criminology's (AIC) National Homicide Monitoring Program.

All the data in the infographic has been checked with senior staff at the ABS and AIC.

Highlights from the latest data include:

The proportion of men experiencing current partner violence in the last 12 months between the 2005 and 2016 ABS Personal Safety Surveys rose more than five-fold (a 552% increase), while the proportion of men experiencing emotional abuse from a current partner in the last 12 months more than doubled (a 223% increase).

During the last 12 months, more than one in three people who experienced violence from an intimate partner were male (35%) and almost half the people who experienced emotional abuse by a partner were male (46%).

14% of men who experienced emotional abuse by a current partner were deprived of basic needs such as food, shelter or sleep, compared to 6% of women.

9% of men reporting emotional abuse by a current partner experienced threats to take their child/ren away from them, compared to 5% of women.

39% of men who reported emotional abuse by a previous partner had that partner lie to their child/ren with the intent of turning them against them, compared to 25% of women.

More than 1 in 3 persons who experienced sexual harassment were male (34%) – usually involving a female perpetrator (72%).

The biggest increase in sexual harassment between 2012 and 2016 was males harassed by a female, which rose by a massive 68% (females harassed by a male rose by 15%).

Almost 1 in 3 persons who experienced sexual assault were male (28%), with females the most likely perpetrators of sexual violence against men (83%).

Male victims of domestic violence were far more likely than women to have never sought advice or support, less likely to have contacted police, and far less likely to have had a restraining order issued against the perpetrator.

75 males were killed in domestic homicide incidents between 2012-2014, an average of one every ten days.

We have been contacted by Michael Rayment, a freelance photographer, who writes:

I am passionate about men's issues and rights, in particular issues surrounding men who have been victims of family violence. I am undertaking a personal project called Silenced photographing and interviewing male victims of family violence to raise awareness of this issue. This would consist of text from the interview and faceless portraits for those that wish to remain anonymous. That is, images that do not identify the person such as hand shots, silhouettes or blurred background shots as an example. Images taken will appear on social media, websites, entered into international awards and exhibitions. Each participant will be required to sign a release form. There is no payment for this as the intention is to be used for community education in which I receive no payment.

I am seeking 10 men to participate in interviews and a photo session which generally takes about 1 hour. I am based in the Hunter Valley but happy to travel to the Central Coast and Sydney. If you are interested in participating, please contact me at michael@michaelrayment.com.au.

In order to carry out our aim of raising public awareness of the existence and needs of male victims of family violence, the One in Three Campaign encourages all media, whether mainstream media, websites, blogs or social media, to widely share our material with attribution. However, use of our material by any third party is not a sign of endorsement or affiliation between that party and One in Three. In order to carry out our aim of working with governments to provide better assistance to those affected by family violence, the One in Three Campaign works actively with all sides of the political spectrum but is unaffiliated with any political party or position.